A Warm Invitation from Professor Lawrence M. Friedman

Dear SPILS alums,

This fall marks the 20th anniversary of the SPILS program; well over 200 of you have gone through the program. It’s amazing to think that so many years have gone by since Prof. Tom Heller and I founded this experimental program—the first real graduate program at Stanford Law School; and one which was, and we think, still is, unique among graduate programs in law in the United States. You came to us from many countries, with many different backgrounds; but what united you was a willingness to participate in this program of training and research.

We think of you as friends, bound together by common memories. A committee of former SPILS students has been planning a celebration, to be held October 16-18; and the purpose of this letter is to formally invite all of you to take part in the celebration—either in person, here at Stanford, or through a planned series of virtual events, in various parts of the world, or through email, letters, videos, and other ways to meet and greet and celebrate each other. The Committee has been making plans, and will communicate them to all of you. You will be hearing more as the date comes closer. I hope that all of you will find a way to participate, in one way or another. We want to hear from you: where you are, what you are doing, how the experience at Stanford made a difference in your lives, and anything else you want to communicate.

Yours,

Lawrence M. Friedman